From today’s "Raving E-Mail Newsletter," issued by the good people at Raving Consulting, comes the tale of a casino that got it right. Casino personnel at Mohegan Sun found $406 in credits on a slot machine, contacted the woman who had left them and sent her a check by registered mail.
I find this refreshing in an era in which casinos still seem determined to wriggle out of paying jackpots whenever possible. How often have we read about Jane Doe or Joe Dokes ultimately losing out on an apparently big win because the slot reels were determined to have been an ant’s whisker out of alignment? Since the majority of these disputes are resolved in the casino’s favor, small wonder that there is such a high level of distrust and suspicion on the part of customers toward casinos. Anyway, kudos to Mohegan Sun for showing how to do the right thing.
Horrors! Your office’s Final Four pool could lead to rampant gambling addiction! Anyway, that’s the view of some bluenoses who are calling for an end to intra-office wagering pools. In an instance of using tangentially related data to bolster a shaky case, a statistic is cited that 10% of American workers have called in sick in order attend sports events. Yes, but maybe they just had good seats for a matinee at Wrigley Field …
Las Vegas, look to thy laurels! You’re being surpassed — and by the Amish, no less. Given some of the less-than-stellar casino buffets I’ve sampled here (I’m looking at you Terrible’s and Sam’s Town), perhaps we should look into getting the Amish to bring their buffet services here.
Days Late: 1; Dollars Short: 1: The New York Times (registration required) weighs in belatedly on the peaceful casino war in Macao. Unfortunately, the article is a once-over-lightly, "Move along, nothing to see here" piece that pretty much whitewashes the dubious background of Stanley Ho. Alas, one doesn’t expect much better from the newspaper of Judith Miller and Times apologist (and serial windbag) Charlie Rose these days, but the Gray Lady is even later than usual to the party on this one.
